Mia Papa’s opens evening Lido Tapas venture -with ‘ghost dish’ donations – at The Kitchen CT9

Chef Jools Moore has opened Lido Tapas in the evenings at The Kitchen CT9

Thanet’s Mia Papa’s Kitchen has begun another part of its journey with a move to The Kitchen CT9 in Cliftonville and the opening of ‘LidoTapas.’

Chef and business owner Jools Moore opened up at The Kitchen’s Cliff Terrace site this month and has a ‘ghost dish’ option on the menu which provides a donation to the work done by The Kitchen – under Thanet Iceberg Project -to help people in need.

Jools was head chef at Margate Winter Gardens but when he was made redundant in October 2020 due to the covid-19 crisis he took the plunge to open his own mobile pizza business.

Photo Frank Leppard

He bought an old Piaggio Ape and converted it so it contained a pizza oven. Named Mia Papa’s Kitchen – after daughter Mia and himself as her Papa – Jools started trading at Northdown Brewery, making pizzas on a Saturday night to support the brewery’s tap room customers. This went from strength to strength, building up a loyal following, and Jools widened his trading to the Tap Room / Banks pub in Cliftonville, private functions and big events including Malle London’s motorcycle event at Grimesthorpe Castle.

Photo Frank Leppard

The motivated chef didn’t stop there. In September last year he opened an evening ‘pop-up’ at Batchelor’s Patisserie in Cliftonville and extended the menu to offer starters, salads, desserts  and more.

The temporary arrangement proved a hit and Jools has now adapted again with a new menu at The Kitchen CT9 in the evenings.

Photo Frank Leppard

The 46-year-old said: “The Kitchen CT9 does not have a pizza oven. So, I thought, what has Margate not got and what food do I like to eat and cook. I decided on a tapas restaurant doing decent Spanish tapas.

“I’ve ridden my motorcycle around Spain a couple of times and have always eaten in small tapas places along my journeys as the food is good and low cost in Spain. Also, my sister-in-law is from Basque Country and over Christmas she gave me a list of the most popular authentic tapas dishes and some good recipes!”

Photo Frank Leppard

The ‘ghost dish’ option is proving successful with funds going to the Thanet Iceberg Project.

Jools said: “Thanet Iceberg Project is a small non profit working across Thanet to help individuals and households to overcome the symptoms of poverty whilst addressing their causes. They do this through their “pay as you can” cafe The Kitchen CT9, their furniture project The Loft, and their signposting service Crossroads. Run by a small team of volunteers, TIP have helped hundreds of households since their launch in 2018.”

Photo Frank Leppard

The project, and The Kitchen CT9, is headed up by couple Ann Newstead and Alexander Roarke – best known simply as Roarke.

Roarke and Ann Newstead of The Kitchen CT9

Roarke said: “We are really pleased that chef Jools offered to put an invisible dish on his menu. It is a really simple way to let diners ‘help out whilst dining out’.

“For us, it helps us continue to help provide our furniture project and advice services free to the individuals and households who need us most. We have been blown away by the generosity of those dining at Lido Tapas and we look forward to our ongoing partnership.”

Photo Frank Leppard

The Lido Tapas venture is open Wednesday – Thursday 6 pm – 11pm and Friday – Saturday 6pm – 1am.

Find out more on Mia Papa’s website by clicking here

Find out more about Thanet Iceberg Project at: www.thaneticeberg.org

4 Comments

  1. Ugh, I can’t stand Octopus on the menu. I tried it once in Spain and never again. Other than that I wish them well with this venture.

    • Thank you for your kind word of luck!
      On the octopus front….
      My octopus is rather tasty!
      You’re more than welcome to come and try a bit on the house to see if I can sway you!
      Kind regards
      Jools x

  2. Que bien, tapas!!! Por fin comida española que no cocino yo en mi casa 😀 A la primera oportunidad me paso. Mucha suerte!! ❤

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